A locking mechanism provided for latching of a door or flap in essence comprises a catch and a pawl. The catch can be pivoted from an open position to a closed position with the aid of a locking bolt of a door or a flap. The pawl ratchets the catch in the closed position. The locking bolt can then no longer leave the locking mechanism as the catch can then no longer be pivoted back into its open position. For opening, the pawl must initially be moved out of its ratchet position, i.e. lifted from the catch. The catch can subsequently be pivoted back into its open position. The locking bolt can then leave the locking mechanism and a pertaining door or flap can be opened.
Unratcheting of the locking mechanism is performed with the aid of an activation device. If a pertaining activation device is activated, an associated locking mechanism of a door or flap is unratcheted, i.e. opened. The pertaining door or flap can then be opened.
A motor vehicle latching system can also be bolted. In the bolted state, a locking mechanism can no longer be opened by activation of the activation device. This applies at least to manual activation of an external activation lever. Such an external activation lever can be an external door handle which is therefore accessible from outside.
A latching system can therefore assume different positions such as bolted, unbolted, ratcheted or unratcheted. In order to move a latching system from one position to another, it needs to be adjusted. A mechanism, a device or a component which causes such adjustment is referred to as an actuator hereinafter.
From DE 10 2015 001 318 A1 an activation device for a motor vehicle latch is known which can prevent unintentional opening of a door or a flap in the case of a crash. The activation device encompasses an external activation lever and an inertia lever. The external activation lever and the inertia lever are coupled via a spring in such a way that in the case of sufficiently slight acceleration of the inertia lever a movement of the external activation lever follows in a delay-free manner. With sufficiently great acceleration of the external activation lever, for example caused by forces action on the latching system in the case of a crash, the inertia lever cannot follow the movement of the external activation lever. Consequently, a distance between the inertia lever and the activation lever increases. An additional latch then engages in such a way that the distance previously increased hereby can no longer be decreased. This is used to prevent unscheduled opening of a pertaining locking mechanism in the case of a crash.